Rare condition makes 15-year-old girl look like a 60-year-old granny

A teenage girl looks 45 years her senior due to a rare condition.

The 15-year-old, named only as Xiao Feng, has been diagnosed with progeria.

Her genetic disorder, which is also known as Hutchinson-Gilford syndrome, causes the skin to wrinkle and sag.

This has given the teen the looks of a 60-year-old – and she’s so self conscious about her appearance that she’s quit school.

Xiao Feng said: "I looked so different from my classmates that I stopped going to school, and stopped going out.

"I didn't have many friends at school anyway. Whenever I sat among them, I looked more like their grandmother.”

The schoolgirl added: "People address me as 'auntie' on the street and my classmates call me a freak.

"When I was younger, I had no concept of beauty or ugliness. Even though I had an ageing face, I was pure and bright.

"But as I grew older, I started caring more and more about how other people looked at me. I never take photo, and I stopped smiling."

Xiao Feng’s condition is genetic – and her mum battles progeria too.

Her father, who has remained anonymous, said: "We didn't take her to get tested. Her mother had the same condition too. We knew our child had inherited it.

"We're not educated, so we didn't understand anything about genetic disorders.

"And after she was born, it was already too late to regret it."

Xiao Feng hopes to raise money for treatment.

She penned an emotional letter, before sending it to Chinese philanthropist Guo Mingyi.

The note read: "I want to live a normal life.

"I want to walk on the street without avoiding other people's eye contact.

"I want to go back to school and never heard my classmates speaking about me behind my back.

"I want to study to become a doctor. I often dream of that day."

Guo was moved by the letter and has thrown himself into fundraising for the teen.

He hopes to raise enough money to pay for a series of facial operations for Xiao Feng.

Treatment is expected to cost upwards of £55,000.

Guo's non-profit is currently receiving donations via QR code on social media platform WeChat.

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